Rain threatening Oswestry on a dreary Tuesday evening my party and I hurriedly got ourselves into shelter in The Ironworks. After shrugging off the cold we settled ourselves in the relaxed performing stage, where locals had made themselves comfortable. Arriving early we bought drinks and had laughs with the sounds of soothing amateur acoustics playing, surrounded by a raw and rustic setting which later proved to emphasize the artists style.

Tom Clayton was welcomed first on stage to perform an original song, undone. His confident voice boomed emotionally and his smooth catchy strumming got the stage some due attention, but unfortunately he stepped down before we could hear more. But he’s certainly a name I’d like to remember…

Next to step up was Bristol artist Jake Spicer, who brought some quick acoustic rythym and a high tempo to the stage with such distinctive and unique vocals that you genuinely could not find elsewhere. Swigging a pint after each song (not for dutch courage) he got the light crowd swaying and happy, including myself… A setlist full of passionate emotion his original writings ‘Slowly Smiling’, ‘To Young’ and ‘River’ shined only across a fantastic cover of Bill Withers’ ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’.

Last but certainly not least came an admirable performance by duo Jess Needham and Jack. Her vocals bounced beautifully off the walls and got the eye of everyone in sight. Full of confidence she swayed happily as Jack smiled and played his steady strums with ease as they covered such artists as Adele, Paolo Nutini and a powerful, uplifting cover of Stone Sour’s ‘Through The Glass’.

Some fantastic performances were unfortunately missed by all but the small audience supporting the artists. If you find yourself free on miserable Tuesday evening, it could be an evening well spent witnessing the best local talent on offer at the Ironworks.